The private consumption in the fourth quarter of 2021 grew 5.5% year-on-year and 2.7% compared to the same period in 2019, the year before the pandemic, according to the macroeconomic report of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP).
The monetary entity specified that, although the year-on-year growth slowed down compared to that registered in the previous quarter (11.8%), this is explained by a lower statistical effect. However, growth compared to 2019 accelerated.
“This This is because the expansion of business capacity and opening hoursas well as the greater willingness of consumers to go to establishments after the advancement of the vaccination process increased the dynamics of sales, especially in non-primary sectors such as commerce and services”, deepens the BCRP.
Another factor that influenced the result of private consumption was the delivery of the new subsidy to households, since on October 7 the payment of the yanapay bonus for S/ 350, transfer intended for people in situations of poverty or vulnerability who were not included in the social programs Together, Pension 65 or With you. This stimulus bolstered household spending during the last quarter of the year.
Likewise, despite the acceleration of the employment indicators compared to the previous quarter, the uncertainty about the future situation of the economy generated a drop in consumer confidence, whose index decreased 2.7 points compared to the previous quarter and stood at 5 0.9 points below the result for the fourth quarter of 2020. Meanwhile, consumer credit showed a less pronounced fall and registered a real contraction rate of 3.5% in the quarter under analysis.
In annual terms, private consumption grew 11.7% year-on-year in 2021. This is in line with the 4.2% increase in private formal employment nationwide, with which 151,000 jobs were recovered out of the 238,000 lost in 2020. However, the average number of jobs in 2021 was 2.3% below the level recorded in 2019.
Source: Larepublica
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